SHRIRAM GENERAL INSURANCE CO LTD Vs. NISHA DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant/Insurance Company has preferred this statutory appeal under Sec. 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988[1] as amended up to date, challenging the impugned judgment-cum-award dtd. 5/3/2014 passed by the learned Presiding Officer, Motor Accident Claims Tribunal[2], South District, Saket Courts, New Delhi, whereby the respondent No.7 herein was held to be guilty of rash and negligent driving of the offending truck bearing registration No.HR-55-B-6988, registered in the name of respondent No.8 herein. Furthermore, the claim for the compensation filed by the claimants, who are the wife, four children and father of the deceased under Sec. 166 read with Sec. 140 of the M.V. Act, was allowed. The claimants were awarded a total compensation of Rs.21,38,900.00 with interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of filing of the petition till realisation on account of the death of Santosh Kumar involving the aforesaid truck.

(2.) Having heard the learned counsel for the appellant/Insurance Company and learned counsel for respondents No.1 to 6/claimants at the Bar and on perusal of the record, this Court proceeds to decide the present appeal.

(3.) At the outset, Mr. Sameer Nandwani, learned counsel appearing for the appellant/Insurance Company, has urged that the deceased was a "gratuitous passenger" and, therefore, the Insurance Company is not liable to pay compensation to the claimants. Learned counsel took this Court through the testimony of PW-1/Smt. Nisha Devi, wife of the deceased, and pointed out that she was not an eye-witness to the accident. It was submitted that PW-2/Daya Ram was the employer of the deceased Santosh Kumar, who was also not an eye-witness to the accident, while PW-3/Akhilesh Kumar was produced and examined as an eye-witness. It was urged that the deceased Santosh Kumar was employed by PW-2, and he was a co-driver with PW-3, and they had a sudden fight, and the deceased in the process of fleeing away, attempted to climb on the left side of the offending truck bearing registration No.HR-58-B-6988 as a gratuitous passenger. It was vehemently urged that there is no iota of evidence, as to in what capacity the deceased was on the offending truck as he was neither the driver nor the cleaner in respect of the offending truck.